Why I Sold My iPad
Running the same operating system as the iPhone and sharing much of the same characteristics the iPad also suffers from the same strengths and weaknesses. Being a completely wireless device, the iPad rely solely on wireless communication. I had a wifi-only iPad, not the 3G, so my internet connectivity, and therefore productivity, was really limited to whatever wireless internet I could get my hands on.
That is issue number one, issue number two is that my campus wireless is terrible for any iOS device (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, etc). They use a terribly antiquated Cisco Clean Access system that regularly does more harm than good; even going as far as locking out virus-free computers from the network. Cisco Clean Access does not like the iPad or really any non-Microsoft operating system. Thankfully Macs have been around long enough that the school has found a solution for Mac users like myself, but not so with the iPad. Currently my campus IT staff wants to help me, but after working on it for weeks no solution is in sight.
2. The Great Outdoors
The iPad has a design of a super-car, but that design sometimes comes at a cost. Essentially the iPad is a hunk of glass and aluminum with everything built on the inside. The device is thin, sexy, and virtually silent. The only problem with this is that it the 10” glass screen essentially sucks in the heat the same way that your car takes in heat over the summer. Using any piece of personal electronics in the sun for extended periods of time is generally a big “no, no”, but the iPad in its current iteration overheats after about five to ten minutes of reading outside. That being said, the iPad does a great job of shutting itself off when it gets to a higher temperature to prevent harm to the device, buts its annoying regardless to have to move and wait for the iPad to cool down until you can read you book again.
Also, there is the issue with the screen. It may be simply the psychics of glass after it gets larger than about 9” across, but the iPad serves as a great mirror when outside. This isn’t that bad if you are reading text, but anything else is difficult, especially if you have a dark background like I tend to have. Although as I already mentioned, the iPad is not good in direct sunlight, its annoying for the screen to be that reflective in the sunlight. These complaints are simply design complaints and honestly the iPad was probably not designed for the great outdoors, but these reasons are why I am not keeping it as a super ebook and magazine reader. Its still hard to beat good old paper in the bright sunlight.
3. Guilt
Although I am very much a gadget geek and I love my assorted toys I was constantly paraded by a sense of guilt for owning the device. Almost from day one I felt that I truly did not need in it MY life simply because I already had a top-notch Macbook Pro and the latest generation iPhone. Also, as the iPad took over more and more of my computing experience I found that I felt guilty for not using my Macbook Pro the way it should have been used. As I become more attached to my iPad my Macbook Pro simply became the machine that I managed media on, finished up long reports on, and shot out wifi to my iPad on. By having the iPad around I found that even I used my current laptop less and less.
So Where Does This Leave Me?
Well, I love the iPad and I am really disappointed that I had to get rid of it, but I think it was the mature decision. I had really hoped that my college would fix the wireless network before I leave the school, but I did not want a truly crippled computer laying around my dorm room for 2/3 of the year. As for the overheating and screen issues I can not tell if these will be resolved in future products or is simply a condition of having any kind of computer less than an inch thick, more powerful than my first Windows XP machine, and primary input method is a piece of glass. Whenever the opportunity arises for me to get an iPad again, I will most likely get the device and things like having the 4.0 operating system on the device with its folders and multitasking excite me. Also, the idea of an iPad 2 having the brilliant retina display of my iPhone 4 and a webcam and me getting the 3G model also greatly excites me for the future of the device and platform.
So, What Should You Take Away From This?
The iPad is not perfect, but it is a wonderful device that I’m fairly confident will change the way we use personal computers. There is nothing else in the industry that can quite surf the web the same way or consume media in quite the same way or do any number of other things quite the same way. The iPad is truly unique experience that will only improve over time as the software matures. If you are doubting if you should get one of these devices I suggest you try it out, but I would recommend that you do that regardless of the device. Me giving up the iPad does not mean that I mark it as a failure, but rather I feel that due to circumstances beyond my control I must give up this device because I feel that an iPad is a terrible thing to waste.
